Bacteria possessing two RelA/SpoT-like proteins have evolved a specific stringent response involving the acyl carrier protein-SpoT interaction.

ABSTRACT: Bacteria respond to nutritional stress by producing (p)ppGpp, which triggers a stringent response resulting in growth arrest and expression of resistance genes. In Escherichia coli, RelA produces (p)ppGpp upon amino acid starvation by detecting stalled ribosomes. The SpoT enzyme responds to various other types of starvation by unknown mechanisms. We previously described an interaction between SpoT and the central cofactor of lipid synthesis, acyl carrier protein (ACP), which is involved in detecting starvation signals in lipid metabolism and triggering SpoT-dependent (p)ppGpp accumulation. However, most bacteria possess a unique protein homologous to RelA/SpoT (Rsh) that is able to synthesize and degrade (p)ppGpp and is therefore more closely related to SpoT function. In this study, we ask

SUBMITTER: Battesti A 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC2620808 | biostudies-literature | 2009 Jan

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature